In early
2015, I attended the Senior Leader Course for my MOS (Military Occupational
Specialty) at Ft. Gordon in Augusta, GA. One thing that was a little humorous
about it is that I was scheduled for the course when I was still a 25S,
Satellite Communications Operator/Maintainer, but had converted to 79R,
Recruiter, after it was scheduled. I was attending a school for a career field
that was no longer mine so I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the technical
portions of the instruction. (SLC is a one-time requirement only regardless of
the MOS so it wasn’t exactly a waste of time.) My instructor there was really
into board games and group games. One of my favorites was one called Ultimate
Werewolf where you basically have to read body language and use logic to figure
out who the werewolves were in the group. Another was called Ugg-tect where you
have to use caveman style grunts and words along with an inflatable club to get
your team to build a structure out of blocks a certain way. One more than was
pretty fun was a marshmallow challenge where we were given sticks of spaghetti,
a yard a yarn, a yard of tape, and a marshmallow. The challenge was to build
the tallest structure. We couldn’t get ours to work.
Author
Tom Wujec (2010) has used this marshmallow challenge to study teams for several
years. First, I have to say that I take great comfort in knowing that about 40%
of the teams are unable to build a structure that can support a marshmallow. I
mean I am no Einstein but it was embarrassing to not be able to figure out how
to get at least a small structure in the 20 minutes that we were given to build
it but at least we weren’t the only ones! What is surprising, though, is what
teams are able to build the tallest successful structures. Engineers aside (they
have somewhat of an unfair advantage in this challenge), the teams that were
the most successful structures were all recent graduates…of kindergarten. One
of the worst performing segments are recent MBA students and graduates. Wujec
attributes this in part to habits of lying and cheating but provided little
evidence of that. So why is it that these little kids are outperforming MBAs?
In part, none of them are jockeying for power as business professionals often
do. However, the primary underlying reason is much more fascinating. “Business
students are trained to find the single right plan, and then they execute on it”
(2:38). Their plan focuses on reaching the end state but then what happens once
the plan is executed is that the clock begins to run out and they find themselves
in a crisis situation. The children, however, do things a bit different. First,
instead of working toward the goal, they start with the goal and work backward
always keeping the marshmallow on top. More important, they build several
prototypes. They are not executing just one plan but rather execute idea after
idea after idea.
Part
of our studies this week focused on different team functions. Brown (2011)
highlights two primary functions being group task functions and group
maintenance functions. Group task functions are processes that directly work
toward an objective whereas group maintenance functions focus on developing
interpersonal skills that cultivate a positive environment with open
communication in which ideas are freely shared. Think back to what you learned
in Kindergarten. You likely were learning more about sharing with your friends
than you were about being a leader so it is no wonder that the kindergarteners
are coming up with so many ideas. They may not have an official leader and may
not understand how group objectives can be refined but they understand how to
share ideas even if they seem silly.
Wujec
(2010) made another interesting observation to highlights the need for both of
these functions within a group. Obviously, he gathered this data from the teams
that successfully built a structure. The overall average height of towers was
20”. Teams of CEOs did just a little better than average at about 22”. (That is
good. I would hope that my CEO knows how to work to a higher standard.)
However, teams with CEOs including an administrative assistant were able to
build towers over 30” tall. What this highlights is that when you have a group
of high-performers that have the ability to achieve objectives but only focus
on group tasks, the full potential of the group is not unlocked. Wujec noted
that administrative assistants have strong skills of facilitation and process
management. They are not focused solely on the objective but on organizing the
group and coordinating to utilize the best resources. They are focused on those
group maintenance functions and encourage maximum participation by all.
Let
me focus in on group facilitation as a group maintenance function. To me, one
of the most critical tasks as a facilitator is to ensure my team explores every
possible option.
As a facilitator,
be careful that participants are not settling too soon—that is, choosing a
solution that seems to solve the problem without continuing to look for a
better solution. Although one solution may be adequate, superior solutions stem
from thinking that is initially divergent—creatively exploring possible solutions
before agreeing on any one choice. (Lewis, 2008, p. 57)
Again,
business professionals are trained to look for the one right answer (Wujec,
2010). When a solution is found that will work, it is easy to think that that
is the answer. Facilitators are
responsible for ensuring that the team is open to other right answers. That is
why the teams of CEOs with executive admins outperform those without. That
group facilitation is ensuring that all options
are explored.
I am
interested in trying this out at our next Company training meeting. I would be
interested in trying it two ways – first with our own centers and then with
mixed groups. The takeaway that I would hope that we would all get from it is
that every idea is worth exploring. I am sometimes guilty of not entertaining
other ideas in my own center. I hope I haven’t inadvertently discouraged
someone from sharing a better idea.
Brown,
D. R. (2011). An Experimental Approach to
Organizational Development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Lewis,
L. S., & American Society for Training and Development. (2008). 10 Steps to Successful Facilitation.
Alexandria, Va.: ASTD Press.
Wujec,
T. (2010, February). Build a Tower, Build
a Team [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower
No comments:
Post a Comment